Unnecessary and unwanted items can affect your life in more ways than you realize. Taking care of these items wastes valuable time, and they occupy space in your home that could be repurposed for better use. All that clutter can even increase your stress level. Moving is an excellent time to reduce the amount of items you own and start fresh. Often, people don’t realize just how much they own until they have to pack it all up in boxes and move it from one location to another. Renting a dumpster from a company like ABH Services can make the process run more smoothly, allowing you to quickly clean out your old space.

It’s important to make a plan for how you’re going to tackle packing your items and reducing what you don’t need. You can start weeding out unnecessary possessions as soon as you know you’re going to move. Go through every drawer, cabinet, and shelf in each room and sort items into the right rooms and areas to make the process easier. While this process may seem tedious or time-consuming, you’ll be able to better determine what you have and what you don’t need. Consider how your new place might be different: do you have more or less storage space in the kitchen? How about the size of your linen closet? If you have tons of clothing in your current home but you’re moving to a new house where the closets are smaller, reducing your clothes before you start packing will make the move easier.

Remember, the less items that you hold on to, the less you have to pack (and spend on packing materials), the less you have to unpack, and you may even be able to get away with a smaller moving truck. Make sure all of the other members of your household help with this process, and that everyone handles their own belongings. To remove unwanted belongings while moving, you have several options, including recycling, donating, and trashing them.

Ask yourself the following questions when considering whether or not to keep each item, and make sure to be totally honest with yourself:

• Do I really need this? Do I actually use this item in my life or am I just saving it for a rainy day?
• Is this item something that I truly love? It’s important to surround yourself with things that make you happy, and by getting rid of items that are unimportant to you, it allows you to better enjoy your favorite things.
• Is this a duplicate? Does the other item do the job better? Don’t keep duplicates “just in case.”
• Do I have a sentimental attachment to this item? This is usually a major reason why people hold on to things, and often it comes from guilt. Rest assured that you don’t have to hold on to something just because it was a gift or a family member’s possession.

If you find yourself needing to clear out a lot of items during your move, consider renting a Dumpster from ABH Services. We also provide Recycling services for many eligible items. Call us today at 781-941-2422 to discuss how we can help you ease the stress of reducing your items when you move. Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/abhservices/ for more tips on how to declutter and simply your home.